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If it's for their entry into the AISC competition, shouldn't the engineering students be the ones welding it together? (are you an engineering student at NJIT?). If the rules are anything like Formula SAE, it's cheating to have a pro do the welding. If somebody told me to weld that "as-is" and put my name on the finished work (sloppy fitup on fishmouths/copes, mill scale not cleaned off, tacks look they were done by a newb) I would politely tell them "No". Hate to sound like a di*k, but reputation is everything in the small world of D17.1 work - It's a mistake to associate your name/rep with a poor quality finished product.

If it HAS to be welded as-is with the mill scale I wouldn't TIG it at all. There's simply no way to make a good TIG weld with bad prep. O/A and RG45 filler is a little more forgiving of joint gaps and mill scale and is normalized as welded - No PWHT necessary.

Thx for the friendly response....no, they are students that design the bridge over the past 9 months or so. They then look for companies to donatetime, materials etc. One company donated the steel. One company donated the welding(my company), one company donated the machining(for the fixture). They paid for the fittings(somewhere around $12,000. All aspects of the bridge are designed by two captains with the input of the "bridge team" and professor. Then, when the time comes they come to my shop and we do a hands on build together. Generally I help them transfer ideas they have on Autocad/Solidworks and paper into the real world where there are always small details that are overlooked. This is a technology school and they are civil engineering students. They are not required to take welding classes. The mechanical engineering does a dune buggy competition but this is different. There is also a time frame usually when this comes around. This year we have 3 weeks to build it start to finish. That's not a lot of time. There isn't really time to be "**** retentive". Generally the bridge is an educated guess that's trying to compete in and win with light weight, aesthetics , assembly time, and function(load test, lateral movement test and a cantilever test). The welding is a bit overkill to be honest. Unfortunately you had to reply by being a negative Nancy and thinking this is a space ship going to NASA. Fortunately it's only a student bridge that is never going to be used for more than a one time competition. These students are very gifted and last year it one the regionals. That was my first year TIG welding this material. . Dave

Originally Posted by MR.57

If it's for their entry into the AISC competition, shouldn't the engineering students be the ones welding it together? (are you an engineering student at NJIT?). If the rules are anything like Formula SAE, it's cheating to have a pro do the welding. If somebody told me to weld that "as-is" and put my name on the finished work (sloppy fitup on fishmouths/copes, mill scale not cleaned off, tacks look they were done by a newb) I would politely tell them "No". Hate to sound like a di*k, but reputation is everything in the small world of D17.1 work - It's a mistake to associate your name/rep with a poor quality finished product.

If it HAS to be welded as-is with the mill scale I wouldn't TIG it at all. There's simply no way to make a good TIG weld with bad prep. O/A and RG45 filler is a little more forgiving of joint gaps and mill scale and is normalized as welded - No PWHT necessary.

I replied on the project section today but I guess you quit checking it. Do you have any finished pictures of what you did last year? I was wondering what one of these looks like in a completed state. I know you will post pictures of this one when it's finished, but wanted to see a previous one, ready for judging.

Here you go. These are the only pics I have from last year. If you google NJIT steel bridge competition and select images on the google page several pics will show up. Dave

Originally Posted by Bistineau

I replied on the project section today but I guess you quit checking it. Do you have any finished pictures of what you did last year? I was wondering what one of these looks like in a completed state. I know you will post pictures of this one when it's finished, but wanted to see a previous one, ready for judging.

This was my first year working with the Cal State University at Northridge. I had been working with the build/assy team for 2 months teaching mig at the college, and 3 months with the tig team tig welding the entire bridge in my shop. There were 3 tig stations active at any one time with 8 or so kids burning rod. This being my first time as advisor it was pretty nerve racking, I will tell you. Ugly as they were, the welds were successful and the bridge came in underweight. Shrinkage and distortion were their biggest foes by far.

The took 5 out of 6 catagories and won overall championship in their division. I believe their next competition is coming up soon. They should be sending me an invite to their celebration banquet soon. Or so they say.https://www.facebook.com/ASCE.CSUN?fref=ts